Hammer Strength Chest Machines Effective?

CyberMuscle · 05-11-2005, 01:59 PM

I think i am going to have to give up lifting with barbells. The shoulder pain is becoming pretty extreme after a few reps. Also my gym doesnt carry over 120lb dumbells so im **** out of luck there. My question is are these hammer strength machines as effective as barbell or dumbell presses. I have used them before in the past just to mix things up a bit but i have never used them long enough to tell if they would be as effective as free weight presses. Thanks for the help bros!

PastorofMuppets · 05-11-2005, 02:05 PM

Do you have a pre-existing shoulder injury?

Instead of working around the pain why don't you try and fix your shoulder, heck man, you're only 21, you have plenty of time to get it fixed.

CyberMuscle · 05-11-2005, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PastorofMuppets

Do you have a pre-existing shoulder injury?

Instead of working around the pain why don't you try and fix your shoulder, heck man, you're only 21, you have plenty of time to get it fixed.

No pre-existing shoulder injury. I only get the pain with barbell bench presses. No pain with dumbell presses or even shoulder presses. I have tried all types of hand placement and even experimented with bring the bar down to a different position on my chest. Nothing works. After 3 or 4 reps its nothing put pain in my left shoulder.

dook · 05-11-2005, 04:03 PM

you should focus on healing your shoulder. what are you going to do, use the hammer strength machine for the rest of your life? a little patients will help your gains in the long run

**glenihan** · 05-11-2005, 04:19 PM

i love the hammer strength machine especially the incline .. i know exnihilo agress with me ... if BB bench hurts then **** it don't do it .. you don't need to do it .. you can develop a phenomenal chest with db's and the hammer strength machine

natedogg · 05-11-2005, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glenihan

i love the hammer strength machine especially the incline .. i know exnihilo agress with me ... if BB bench hurts then **** it don't do it .. you don't need to do it .. you can develop a phenomenal chest with db's and the hammer strength machine

That's what I'm talking about. Until DC I had never even thought about using the hammer strength machines. Now I love em.

**glenihan** · 05-11-2005, 05:01 PM

i've been using it for a long time now .. i really love the HS incline .. don't really love the regular or decline though .. just my preference

btw natedogg i LOVE that bike .. i was in awe when i was watching that episode .. coolest chopper i've ever seen

**Cuffs** · 05-11-2005, 06:04 PM

The Hammer Strength machine is a great piece of equipment. I just implemented it into my routine.

I had an old shoulder injury that caused me to lay off flat barbell bench for over a year. I changed my routine alternating from week to week to:

1) Incline BB Press, Flat DB Press, Incline Fly
2) Incline BB Press, Incline DB Press, Flat Fly

I made sure to do slow, controlled movements, with a nice stretch at the lower part of the lift with the dumbells. This worked very well for me. I am now able to do heavy barbell press without any pain in my shoulder. I also sneak in two sets of bardips each chest days. I think this has really helped strengthen my delts.

natedogg · 05-11-2005, 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glenihan

i've been using it for a long time now .. i really love the HS incline .. don't really love the regular or decline though .. just my preference

btw natedogg i LOVE that bike .. i was in awe when i was watching that episode .. coolest chopper i've ever seen

Yep, the incline hammer press is good, but right now I'm doing flat hammer presses which are great too.

The Black Widow is definately one of the best bikes OC choppers has built. In fact all three of their web themed bikes have been pretty nice.

lifted · 05-11-2005, 06:58 PM

I've always wanted to buy a hammer machine. I wanted one that you could use for incline, decline, flat, and for shoulder presses. Back when I used to read FLEX, I always saw the ads they had for some company that sold all kinds of hammer strength machines....but they were just too pricey. Anybody got a link for a cheaper one??

hypo · 05-11-2005, 07:18 PM

Here's what you need to do: Either go lighter for a while with freeweights or move to hammer strength machines for a while. In the meantime, do rotator cuff exercises. These exercises are more of a PT type workout so you only have to use 5 or 10 pounds with them. My favorite is to hold a 5lb plate, stick my arm out with my forearm pointing down (like automotive hand signaling "slowing down"), and rotate the shoulder up so that the upper arm remains on the same axis, but the forearm moves 180 degrees upwards. I hope I described that good enough. I just do a set of these for each shoulder in between bench sets and shoulder press sets.

Also follow cuff's suggestion of improving shoulder strength and flexibility with dumbells for a while. Perhaps your chest has become too strong for your shoulders.

builtolast · 05-11-2005, 10:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hypo

Here's what you need to do: Either go lighter for a while with freeweights or move to hammer strength machines for a while. In the meantime, do rotator cuff exercises. These exercises are more of a PT type workout so you only have to use 5 or 10 pounds with them. My favorite is to hold a 5lb plate, stick my arm out with my forearm pointing down (like automotive hand signaling "slowing down"), and rotate the shoulder up so that the upper arm remains on the same axis, but the forearm moves 180 degrees upwards. I hope I described that good enough. I just do a set of these for each shoulder in between bench sets and shoulder press sets.

Also follow cuff's suggestion of improving shoulder strength and flexibility with dumbells for a while. Perhaps your chest has become too strong for your shoulders.

This is good advice, as I have this same problem too my man. Also, I dunno if your rear delts are lacking, but this can have a profound effect on helping eliminated pain. My teach is a Phys. Therapist Asst. and is currently helping me build some size and strength in both my EXTERNAL rotators (probably the ones you should work) and my rear delts. Oh, and i like dem hammer strengths too!

CyberMuscle · 05-11-2005, 10:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hypo

Here's what you need to do: Either go lighter for a while with freeweights or move to hammer strength machines for a while. In the meantime, do rotator cuff exercises. These exercises are more of a PT type workout so you only have to use 5 or 10 pounds with them. My favorite is to hold a 5lb plate, stick my arm out with my forearm pointing down (like automotive hand signaling "slowing down"), and rotate the shoulder up so that the upper arm remains on the same axis, but the forearm moves 180 degrees upwards. I hope I described that good enough. I just do a set of these for each shoulder in between bench sets and shoulder press sets.

Also follow cuff's suggestion of improving shoulder strength and flexibility with dumbells for a while. Perhaps your chest has become too strong for your shoulders.

Since it seems alot of folks like the HS machines i am going to give them a go for about a month or so. I started doing some RC exercises about 2 weeks ago.I have always swapped out each chest day. One chest day use barbells then the other use dumbells. I have been trying to talk the owner of my gym into getting some heavier dumbells but he keeps using the lame excuse that noone can do them. BS i know plenty of guys that could use up to 150s . Gyms just dont cater to bodybuilders anymore

CyberMuscle · 05-11-2005, 10:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by builtolast

This is good advice, as I have this same problem too my man. Also, I dunno if your rear delts are lacking, but this can have a profound effect on helping eliminated pain. My teach is a Phys. Therapist Asst. and is currently helping me build some size and strength in both my EXTERNAL rotators (probably the ones you should work) and my rear delts. Oh, and i like dem hammer strengths too!

Never thought about that because actually my rear delts are somewhat lacking. I will work on my rear delts a little more. Thanks bro.

**Cuffs** · 05-11-2005, 11:49 PM

The rotator cuff execises Hypo laid out is great to include. I did this as well, and made sure to do it prior to, and inbetween lifts. You will see results by doing this. My injury is over 12 years old, and I always had problems until I did the exercises and changed my workout routine. Now, I have no pain or discomfort (knock on wood).

fightercowboy · 05-11-2005, 11:59 PM

That rotator cuff exercise is GRRRREAT!! It was an essential training tool for me when I was playing baseball. Just started getting shoulder pain tonight really bad while benching, so I too will be adding that now into my training again.

**wojo** · 05-12-2005, 01:01 AM

i cannot live without my hammer dip machine..no bench for me thank you

Nate Dawg · 05-12-2005, 01:14 AM

At one of the other gyms I used to lift at in juco, they had several different hammer machines. The only ones I ever tried was the hammer horizontal row, hammer incline, and flat. I loved the incline, I never tried it until the last 3 weeks I was at school, wish I would have started earlier, in 3 weeks I could tell a noticeable difference in my upper chest. I guess I just never tried it since I figured it was a machine, I usually stuck with all free weights. The gym I am at now has the hammer flat, I like it alright, but I would do anything for them to get a Hammer incline, I loved it.

exnihilo · 05-12-2005, 03:08 AM

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